This presentation was delivered to the HTAV annual conference 2012 and looks at key developments of the Industrial Revolution and how these ideas travelled to Australia during the Gold Rushes and transformed society there.
1. The Industrial Revolution
brings
change to Colonial Victoria
Marion Littlejohn
Education Officer, Sovereign Hill Museum
HTAV Annual Conference, July, 2012.
2. Year 9 The Making of the Modern World
Depth Study 1 Making a Better World?
Choose ONE
1 The Industrial Revolution (1750 – 1914)
2 Movements of Peoples (c. 1757 – 1914)
3 Progressive Ideas and Movements (1750 – 1914)
3. Making a Better World ? (1750 – 1914)
Content description
Students investigate …the experiences of men, women and children during the
Industrial Revolution, and their changing way of life
The Industrial Revolution (1750 – 1914)
The technological innovations that led to the Industrial Revolution, and other
conditions that influenced the industrialisation of Britain (the agricultural
revolution, access to raw materials, wealthy middle class, cheap labour, transport
system, and expanding empire) and of Australia
Elaborations
•the impact of steam, gas and electricity on people’s way of life
•The experiences of men, women and children during the Industrial Revolution
•The population movements and changing settlement patterns
•changes to the cities and landscape in European countries and Australia as the
Industrial Revolution continued to develop, using photos
•The short and long-term impacts of the Industrial Revolution, including global changes
in landscapes, transport and communication
The Australian Curriculum; Year 9 - History
4. George Baxter, News from Australia 1854
Pierre Edouard Frere, Washing Day [Penny post 1848]
c. 1837
5. Beginnings of the Industrial Revolution
A revolution in agriculture in Britain in the 1700s created
conditions that favored the Industrial Revolution.
• Farmers began growing new crops and using new
technology such as the seed drill and the iron plow.
• Increased food production improved people's diet and
health, which in turn contributed to rapid population growth.
• More efficient farming methods (enclosures) meant that
fewer people were needed to farm.
• As a result, unemployed farmers created a large new labor
force.
6. Why Britain took the lead.
• It had plentiful iron and coal resources and a good transportation
system (canals).
• It was a leading commercial power so merchants had the capital to
invest in new enterprises.
• It had colonies that supplied raw materials and bought finished goods.
• The British government encouraged improvements in transportation
and used its navy to protect British trade.
• Political stability – secure property rights encourages investment
• British ideal that people could move ahead in society by hard work and
talent. The Protestant Work Ethic.
7. The Industrial Revolution
began in the textile industry.
Between 1733 and
1793, inventors produced
new machines, such as the
flying shuttle, the Spinning
Jenny, and a water-powered
loom, for spinning and
weaving of wool and cotton.
New machines led to the growth of
the factory system, which brought
workers and machines together in
one place. By the late 1700s, steam
began to replace water as a source
of power after James Watt greatly
improved Thomas Newcomen’s
1712 steam engine. Steam engines
gave a boost to two other industries
that were essential to the Industrial
Revolution; coal and iron.
8. Replica of Richard Trevithick's 1804 locomotive at the
National Waterfront Museum, Swansea.
9. 1808 Trevithick charged one shilling at his Steam Circus
to view his “Catch me who can” steam locomotive.
c.f. What is happening in NSW in 1808?
10. 1829 George Stephenson’s
Rocket successfully pulled an
open carriage carrying
30 passengers at 45 kph.
Rocket (with some post 1829 innovations) as
preserved in the Science Museum, London.
11. Benefits of rail travel
• ability to transport fresh meat, milk, eggs & vegetables
→ better diet → improved health
• Information/news spreads faster - newspapers and letters delivered next day in UK
• Shrinking world
• Cheaper transport costs → cheaper goods → raising sales → more jobs
• Population more mobile, day return ticket to seaside now possible
William Powell Frith - Life at the Seaside (Ramsgate Sands) 1854.
13. Brunel’s Great Western railway linking London to Bristol included this two-
mile-long Tunnel at Box; then the longest railway tunnel in the world.
The first train ran in 1838.
14. A famous Great Western engine, the "Vulcan," built in 1837
16. Launch of the SS Great Britain by HRH Prince Albert in 1843
17.
18.
19.
20. The Crystal
Palace, Hyde
Park, London. 1851
1851
THE GREAT EXHIBITION
Queen Victoria opens the Great
Exhibition in the Crystal Palace.
Hyde Park, London, 1851
30. Between 1852 and 1875
the ss Great Britain made
32 round trips to Australia
bringing 15,000 passengers.
2% of present day Australians are
descended from a Great Britain passenger.
40. Early stripper/harvester c. 1883
H.V. McKay Sunshine Harvester factory showing
harvester combs, comb teeth, wheels and other
metal parts are being packed for shipment c1918
Reproduced courtesy of Museum Victoria
41. Ballarat station 1903.
A load of Sunshine Harvesters leaving Hugh V. McKay’s Ballarat
works for export to Argentina
Both train and farm machinery made in Ballarat.
42. 1858 “the Great Stink”
Joseph Bazalgette, Chief
Engineer of the London
Metropolitan Board of
Works, proposes to build 82
miles of intercepting
sewers, that will link with over
1,000 miles of underground
street sewers.
43.
44. Teaching resources
http://www.teacherlink.org/content/social/instructional/industrialrevolution/home.html
Useful outline for teaching a unit on the Industrial Revolution in England – some of the links no longer
work
http://www1.umassd.edu/ir/welcome.cfm
Interesting site from University of Massachusetts Dartmouth which contains an excellent Image Gallery
http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/IndustrialRevolution.htm
Amazing site produced to support the UK History curriculum with easily searchable sections on History
topics from Romans to World War 2
Google Images – type in Industrial Revolution and go ballistic!!
The Industrial Revolution is one of the choices for the first Depth Study in year 9http://www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/History/Curriculum/F-10?y=9&s=HKU&s=HS&layout=1
Note spinning wheel from pre-industrial times but letters possible after the introduction of the penny post in 1848. This family is living in a rapidly changing world.Domestic technology largely unchanged by Industrial Revolution
Background information teachers will need to cover
Spend a little time on inventions
The rapid spread of rail transport transforms peoples lives and would be a good feature to focus on in greater depth.
European settlement of Australia coincides with the birth of rail travel
The Rocket was the most advanced steam engine of its day. It was built for the Rainhill Trials held by the Liverpool & Manchester Railway in 1829 to choose the best and most competent design. It set the standard for a hundred and fifty years of steam locomotive power. Though the Rocket was not the first steam locomotive, its claim to fame is that it was the first to bring together several innovations to produce the most advanced locomotive of its day, and the template for most steam locomotives since. In fact, the standard steam locomotive design is often called the "Stephensonian" locomotive.Rocket had two cylinders set at 35 degrees from the horizontal, with the pistons driving a pair of 4 ft. 8 in (1.42 m) diameter wheels. Most previous designs had the cylinders positioned vertically, which gave the engines an uneven swaying motion as they progressed along the track. Subsequently Rocket was modified so that the cylinders were set horizontally, a layout used on nearly all designs that followed. The second pair of wheels was 2 ft. 6 in (0.76 m) in diameter, and uncoupled from the driving wheels, giving an 0-2-2 wheel arrangement. The firebox was separate from the boiler and was double thickness, being surrounded with water. Copper pipes led the heated water into the boiler.
Improvements in transportation and communication. During the Industrial Revolution, advances were made in transportation and communication. In Britain, roads made of longer-lasting surfaces and canals connected all parts of the nation. A mining engineer, George Stephenson, developed the first steam-powered locomotive, opening the way for the building of railroads. Railroads and steam-powered ships improved transportation around the world. In 1837, an American inventor, Samuel F.B. Morse, devised the telegraph, which revolutionized communications.
Isambard Kingdom Brunel (1806-1859)A key figure teachers might choose to focus on especially as his revolutionary ship the SS Great Britain is involved in carrying migrants to Melbourne during the Gold Rushes.Perhaps show a video of the start of the 2012 London Olympic Games opening ceremony which highlighted Brunel’s contribution to the Industrial Revolution.
Perfectly engineered – two miles long and so straight you can see daylight if you look from one end towards the other.
A famous Great Western engine, the "Vulcan," built in 1837, and entered as Locomotive No. 2 in the books of the Company. The "Vulcan" had a single pair of 8ft. driving wheels and two cylinders 14 in. diameter by 16 in. stroke.
Between 1852 and 1875 the Great Britain made 32 round trips to Australia bringing 15,000 passengers.2% of present day Australians are descended from a Great Britain passenger.
Painting by Joseph WalterThe launch of the Great Britain on 19 July 1843 by HRH Prince Albert, who is standing on the podium just forward of the bows. Launch at the Great Western Dockyard, Bristol100 meters long, steel hull auxiliary steam ship (able to use sails or steam)
Now restored the ss Great Britain sits in the dry dock in Bristol where she was built.
Engine room on ss Great Britain
The exhibition – masterminded by Prince Albert – showcased the developments of the Industrial Age from many countries, but also showcased to the world the might of Britain.Huge crowds flock to this exhibition able to travel to London on the new trains. Tours were organised by an entrepreneur – Thomas Cook.Exhibition has first take away food, public toilets.Queen Victoria was a regular visitor.
Images of the Great Exhibition commissioned by Queen Victoria for Prince AlbertNote the huge trees inside the exhibition hall – saved after a public outcry caused the design of the main hall to be altered to accommodate them.http://www.archive.org/stream/Dickinsonscompr1#page/n149/mode/2up
Elaborate Howdahssent from India
All the new inventions were on display
External steam engines powered working machinery on show inside the Crystal palace.
Pre industrial society was based on agriculture.
When gold is discovered in Victoria in 1851 a massive movement of people and ideas occurs from Britain to Australia.
The ss Great Britain reduced travel time from Liverpool to Melbourne to 62 days
The first English cricket team to tour Australia travelled on the ss Great Britain
In the early years of the Gold Rushes miners were able to find surface or shallow alluvial gold using simple pre-industrial revolution technology.
As the search for gold went deeper following the quartz reefs more sophisticated machinery was needed. The miners used the developments of the Industrial age to harness the power of steam and adapt machinery to drill through basalt, reach depths of up to a kilometre and crush tonnes of quartz to extract gold.
Examples of restored working steam powered machines can be seen at Sovereign Hill in Ballarat.
New processes were developed to produce stronger iron. In the mid-1800s, Henry Bessemer developed a process to improve the production of steel, a mixture of iron and other materials. Steel triggered the growth of still other industries. The Phoenix Foundry in Ballarat was one of many which developed to cater for the needs of the mines.Established in 1854, by 1861 it employed 96 men, in 1884 it employed 350.
Appalling conditions on Victoria’s roads led to public demands for improved transport
The government responded by creating a state-wide rail system. In 1861 the Ballarat line opened – only 10 years after the discovery of gold.B class locomotives were used after 1863, they were originally imported thenbuilt in Victoria from British patterns. Note spark arrester on front funnel added to cope with Australian conditions. Centre dome was polished brass, train green. Carriage in left rear of photo shows the two containers on the roof which held the whale oil for the lamps.
The Ballarat foundries, originally set up to cater for the needs of the mines, were able to adapt to provide the rolling stock for the new railways. In 1883 the Phoenix foundry in Ballarat (where Target is today) rolled out its 100th engine.Phoenix Foundry began in 1854 supplying needs of mines. In 1861 it employed 96 men. In 1871 it tendered for its first locomotive. 1883 – 100th locomotive employing 350 men. 1887 – 200th locomotive. Over 30 years the foundry produced 352 locomotives.
Photo of Ballarat East taken from the Town Hall tower in 1872.Note the railway station left rear and the rapid development in only 21 years.
industrial development was not restricted to trains. For more information on Hugh V. McKay and the Sunshine harvester story go the Museum of Victoriahttp://museumvictoria.com.au/sunshine
Original photo in Museum of Victoria collectionwww.museumvictoria.com.au/sunshine/displayimage.aspFoundries which are established to supply the needs of the gold mines soon diversify into making trains then farm machinery. These foundries create an economy in Ballarat robust and diverse enough to survive when the last gold mine closes in 1916.
This is the story of how our modern world was forged – in rivets, grease and steam; in blood, sweat and human imagination. The 19th century saw the creation of some of the world's most incredible feats of engineering. Deborah Cadbury explores the history behind the epic monuments that spanned the industrial revolution, from Brunel's extraordinary Great Eastern, the Titanic of its day, to the Panama Canal, which linked the Atlantic and Pacific oceans half a century later.Seven Wonders of the Industrial World recreates the stories of the most brilliant pioneers of the industrial age, their burning ambition, extravagant dreams, passion and rivalry as great minds clashed. These minds included Arthur Powell-Davis, the engineer behind the Hoover Dam, who dreamed of creating the largest dam in the world by diverting the entire Colorado river, one of the worlds most dangerous and unpredictable; and John Roebling and his son Washington, who both lost their lives creating the longest suspension bridge ever built, the Brooklyn Bridge. These are also the stories of countless unsung heroes – the craftsmen and workers without whose perseverance nothing would have been achieved – not to mention financiers and shareholders hanging on for the ride as fortunes – and reputations – were lost and won. As the Great Eastern became the talk of England, people came to gaze in disbelief at its vast proportions as it miniaturised the working world around it. Even Queen Victoria herself was tempted to venture down the Thames to visit the ship that symbolised the ‘moral superiority’ of her empire. Yet records show that as she sailed down the Thames to visit the site she was obliged ‘to smell her nosegay all the time’. For while Brunel was building his masterpiece, the city was in crisis. London was drowning in a sea of excrement.There were some 200,000 cesspits across the capital but as the population escalated in the first half of the nineteenth century, so did the smell. In poor districts these cesspits were seldom emptied, leaving the sewage to overflow, seeping through cracks in floorboards or even running down walls, spreading everywhere with its creeping tentacles of disease. Three epidemics of cholera had swept through London by 1854 leaving over 30,000 dead. The desperation of the poor of the East End even reached The Times in a famous protest: ‘Sur, – May we beg and beseech your proteckshion and power … We live in muck and filthe. We aint got no privies, no dust bins, no drains, no water splies, and no drain or suer in the hole place … The Stenche of a Gully-hole is disgustin. We all of us suffur, and numbers are ill, and if the Colera comes Lord help us …’In the summer of 1858, while the Great Eastern was being fitted out for her maiden voyage, the ‘great stink’ finally became unbearable. Joseph Bazalgette, Chief Engineer of the Metropolitan Board of Works, proposed a grand scheme to build 82 miles of intercepting sewers, a sewage superhighway that linked with over 1,000 miles of street sewers to provide an underground network beneath the city streets. He drove himself to the limits of endurance struggling underneath London’s dense housing to create the world’s first modern sewage system. The task was made even more difficult since he was in competition with the new underground railway, a network of roads and the emerging overland railway systems. But his ambitious design transformed the city into the first modern metropolis, setting a standard that was quickly copied the world over.
Remains of the original Melbourne sewerage pumping station is now part of the exhibitions at Scienceworks in Melbourne. Tours are available.